Citing Sources: MLA Style
Quoting and Paraphrasing
General rules for using sources
- When you copy a few words or more from a source, use quotation marks around the copied material AND cite the source using the rules for in-text citations below. See Punctuating Quotations for examples of punctuation.
- For quotes longer than about three lines, don't use quotation marks. Instead, start a new line and make the left margin wider by one inch (ten spaces) so your quote is in a block. After the quote, cite the source using the rules for in-text citations below. Then, go to a new line and set the margin back to normal.
- When you get information from a source and state it in your own words, you are paraphrasing. You still need to cite the source using in-text citations.
In-text Citations
Whenever you use a source, you need to mention the author or authors and page. If no author is identified, you can use a shortened form of the title instead. To cite, you put the author's last name (or authors' last names) and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing a borrowed quote or paraphrase. Put the period ending the sentence AFTER the parentheses. You can also put the author's name in a signal phrase, and then put only the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. Here are some examples:
Signal phrases
- Quote Harvard economics professor Henry T. Johnson says, "Employees who have worked under stressful deadlines and conditions for an extended time produce less and produce work of lower quality" (24).
- Paraphrase Harvard economics professor Henry T. Johnson argues that when employees are under a great deal of stress, they are less productive (24).
Citation at the end
- Author not named in signal phrase "There are no absolute rules for what should and should not go online" (Horton 4).
- No author for work: use shortened title According to a well-known business magazine, "stressful working conditions lower productivity" ("Stress" 20).
- Two or three authors: identify them all One study revealed that up to 68% of drivers feel sleepy at the wheel at least once a month (Frasier, Wharton, & Chen 155).
- Four or more authors "Some dinosaurs had brightly colored skin" (Woods et al. 137).
- Organization as author: first citation for that source According to the Centers for Disease Control [CDC], "A fraction of the AIDS patients studied responded well to the first treatment" (18).
Or "A fraction of the AIDS patients studied responded well to the first treatment" (Centers for Disease Control [CDC] 18).
- Organization as author: all citations after the first The second set of trials had slightly better results (CDC 18).
Works Cited (References)
Start the Works Cited list on a new page titled Works Cited. List each of your references in alphabetical order by the last
name of the first author. If the work has no author, alphabetize by the first
word of the title other than "a," "an," or "the." Do not indent the first line
of an entry, but do indent any additional lines one-half inch (five spaces).
This is called a hanging indent.
Here are some examples of how to list single and multiple authors. Single
author: Anderson, Paul V. Two authors: Reed, Lynn H., and Sam Jones.
Three authors: Wu, Mei-Lin, Mary L. Stevens, and Ian McDonald. Four
or more authors: Schultz, Max K., et al.
Following are some examples that match MLA style as described in Diana Hacker's
2002 Third Edition of Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age. Before each is the type
of publication or situation. Note: This Web page uses underlined
text for document titles, but you can use italics instead. Choose one
style and be consistent.
Journal, magazine and newspaper articles
Books, pamphlets and other printed publications
Internet sources,videotapes, and broadcasts
Journal, magazine and newspaper articles
Journal article, one author
Alvio, A. "Perceptual Comparisons through the Mind's Eye." Memory and Cognition 3 (1975):
635-647.
Journal article, two authors
For more than two, use the same style, with names separated by commas. (Only the first author's name is written last name first.)
Houser, Richard and Sarah DeLoach. "Learning from Games: Seven Principles of Effective
Design." Technical Communication 45.3 (1998): 319-329.
Magazine article
Turner, J. P. "Can the World Handle the World Wide Web?" Time 16 Jan. 1994: 8-9.
Newspaper article
Gross, T. "Acupuncture Gains Respect, Popularity." The New York Times 16 Apr. 1993: C1, C4.
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Books, pamphlets, and other printed publications
Book
If it is not the first edition, the edition goes after the title.
Firestein, Theodore M. The Careful Eater: A Modern Guide to Food Preparation (2nd ed.). New
York: Athenaeum, 1985.
Work in an anthology
Include the editor's name after the title.
Selfe, Cynthia L. "Style and Software Documentation: A Central Concern." Perspectives on
Software Documentation: Inquiries and Innovations. Ed. T. T. Baker. Amityville, NY:
Baywood Publishing Company, 1991.
Organization or corporation's publication
In this example the author is also the publisher.
Allied Health Corporation. Insurance and You. Silver Spring MD: Allied Health Corporation,
1992.
Government publication
United States. National Institutes of Health. Clinical Training in Pediatrics. Washington: GPO.
1997.
Pamphlet
United States. Dept. of the Interior. National Park Service. National Design Competition for an
Indian Memorial: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Washington: GPO, 1996.
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Internet Sources,Videotapes, and Broadcasts
Web site
Include the author, the title of the site, the date the site was last revised (if known), the name of any organization associated with the site, the date you accessed the site, and the URL.
Pritzker, T. J. Poets' Corner. 2 Feb. 1998. 10 Mar. 1999. http://www.geocities.com/.
~spanoudi/poems.
Web article
Include the author if known, the title of the article in quotation marks, the date the site was last revised if known, the name of any organization associated with the site, the date you accessed the site, and the URL.
"Colorado Water Rights." The Water Information Program. The Water Information
Program. 5 June 2002. http://www.waterinfo.org/rights.html.
Online magazine, journal or newspaper article
Follow the guidelines for printed articles. At the end, include the date of access and the URL.
Petersen, Kay. "A New Perspective on Democracy." Journal of American Politics. June 1994.
24 Nov. 2001. http://www.jampol.org/jun1994/~Petersen/Democracy_Perspec.html.
Material from a database or information service
Include all if the following, if known: author, title
of the article in quotation marks, publication information for the source, name
of the database (underlined) and information service (not underlined), library
and date you accessed it.
Ivanoff, I. P. "The Training of Young Athletes." International Education
Journal. 8.2 (1997):
52-59. Expanded Academic ASAP. InfoTrac.
Auraria Lib., Denver, CO. 2 May 2001.
Email
Burns, Annie. "Re: The Ralston Study." Email to Cindy Johnson. 1 Mar. 1999.
Online posting (chat or bulletin board)
Include the title (from the Subject line). Also include the name of the group or list followed by the date of access and the URL.
Foster, Janet. "Women in Film." Online posting. 8 Feb. 2002. Filmchat.
12 Feb. 2002. http://filmchat.cudenver.edu/msgdetail.asp?i+862047.
Videotape
List title, director, actors or narrator, distributor, year.
The English Patient. Dir. Anthony Minghella. Perf. Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem
Dafoe, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Miramax, 1996.
Television or radio program
List title, writer, director, narrator, producer, main actors, series, network, local station, city, date of broadcast:
"The New Face of Africa." The Connection. Host Christopher Lydon. National Public Radio.
WBUR, Boston. 27 March 1998.
Primates. Wild Discovery. Discovery Channel. Boston, 23 July 1998.
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